London King's Cross and Warren Street Tube stations get free WiFi

King's Cross and Warren Street have today become the first London Tube stations to come online with new WiFi networks, enabling travelers to watch movie trailers, listen to music from Spotify and get the latest travel news for free.

The WiFi will be offered for free to all customers during an initial trial period, but later be made available via subscription or pre-pay models.

Virgin customers will be able to access the WiFi depending on their subscription, while everyone else will need to sign up to pay-as-you-go plans.

But all customers will always be able to access up-to-the-minute Transport for London travel information for free via a new online portal.

The free WiFi portal also allows people to discover "great things to do in London" from magazine Time Out, access exclusive music playlists from Spotify and watch movie trailers from MyMovies.Net.

Welcoming today's launch, Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "We need to ensure London is able to cement its position as Europe's leading digital city.

"Our partnership with Virgin Media to make WiFi available on Tube platforms will be of tremendous benefit as building world-class connectivity is critical to supporting new businesses and the jobs they create, especially in the high-tech and creative sectors."

Gareth Powell, London Underground's director of strategy and service development, added: "Our new WiFi service is a fantastic deal for Londoners, with live travel updates, entertainment and news freely available to everyone while they are on the move across the capital.

"WiFi at Tube stations will help us improve the journeys of the millions of people that use the Underground everyday at no cost to fare or tax payers."

Virgin Media chief executive Neil Berkett said that today marks a "truly historic moment" as Tube passengers are connected to "the wonderful world of the internet for the first time ever".

"Our plans for getting London Underground online were very ambitious from the start and, in less than just three months, we've launched a major new service, making London one of the world's leading connected cities," he said.

"By putting the power of Virgin Media's next generation fibre optic network in the hands of Londoners and visitors, we're able to showcase our great capital and celebrate a momentous summer."

To use the new free WiFi service, London Underground passengers need to connect the service and register their email address.